Wednesday, December 8, 2010

My friends, Bryan Connolly and Zack Carlson, spent more than 5 years getting this book together and it's finally hit the shelves and is making its way 'round the world!

There are a gajillion reviews, written mostly by co-editors Carlson and Connolly, and I had the opportunity to write some up too, including reviews for a few of my favorite films such as Times Square, Cronenberg's The Fly, and Batman Returns. The other movies I wrote about are: 200 Cigarettes, The Commitments, Godard's Detective, The Mask, Shady, Tokyo Pop, and Trainspotting.

The book is a gorgeous and hefty tome that not only provides an extensive and almost exhaustive record of punk appearances in world cinema, but is a testament to what depths Connolly, Carlson, and fellow contributors dove to mine this collection for presentation in one well-illustrated and super entertaining publication.

Available from publishers, Fantagraphics Books (in Seattle), Amazon, and hopefully a bookstore or library near you...

about the artist...

Hi! My name is Bridget Irish - I'm an artist who lives and works in the Pacific Northwest. In addition to making short films and videos, my art practice includes photography, performance, installation, visual art, music, writing, and creative gardening.

Some of my current projects include photo postcards, creating "experimental films" through knitting and needle-felting on fabric, and building on a series of short videos I refer to as "photo-mations." Most of the videos in this body of work are composed of over a thousand photographs each, shot manually, edited in-camera, and feature an animated panoramic portrait of a city or landscape.

My most recent public art piece is a photo-mural covered city bench in downtown Olympia called "Match Game." The mural consists of 28 different pairs of photos featuring a variety of local sites and subjects, mixed up in the mural so one can match the pairs.

I have screened, performed and lectured at various venues and universities across the nation, such as 911 Media Arts, On the Boards, San Francisco Art Institute, Sarah Lawrence College, San Francisco Cinematheque, UCLA, Tacoma Art Museum, Reed College, Artist's Television Access, William & Mary, Women Make Movies, Tollbooth Gallery, UC San Diego, The Art Institute of Chicago, Saint Martin's University, and have screened internationally in Guyana, Paris, and Australia.

I have curated and juried film and video programs for Ladyfest 2000 (Olympia), Progression Project One Conference (Boise State University), Homo A Go Go, CoCA Seattle, the Olympia Film Festival's CINE-X Series, Shot to the Face, and The Evergreen State College Gallery. I have taught in the areas of new media studies and video and film production at the San Francisco Art Institute, UC Berkeley, The Olympia Film Society, The Evergreen State College, and Seattle University.